The Wedding
by HeidiBug731
Summary: It's Bill and Fluer's wedding, but they're not the only couple taking the next step in their relationship as the trio begins their hunt for the horcruxes. Written post HBP. Harry/Ginny, Remus/Tonks, Ron/Hermione.


I had been wanting to do a story with my favorite ships for a long time, but when I finally thought of one, it turned out that it was going to be several chapters long and I ended up not liking it.

I like this much better. Short and sweet one shot with hints at book 7.

Ron/Hermione, Harry/Ginny, Remus/Tonks (yay!)

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The Wedding

Fluer stood on the top most stair. She looked simply radiant with the goblin-made tiara placed gracefully atop her curtain of shimmering blonde hair that flowed down her back like a peaceful waterfall. Her smile widened (she'd been smiling all day) as she turned around and flung her bouquet of flowers over her head.

Harry watched from afar. He wasn't really interested, but Ginny was in the crowd of hopeful women at the bottom of the stairs, jostling Hermione and Tonks for a favorable spot. Glancing around, Harry noticed that Lupin was watching as well, the expression on his face completely unreadable.

The bouquet of flowers seemed to hang in midair for a moment like a golden promise before falling toward the sea of eager hands. The sea jumped, piling up like a massive tidal wave and crashing down. There was a struggle, in which someone shouted, "_Accio!_" Someone else cried, "Hey, no magic!" In the end, Tonks emerged victorious, running away with her prize as fast as she could from the still struggling and grasping mass of women (one of whom was brandishing a wand).

Harry looked over at Lupin. There was smile playing about his features but his eyes held a kind of sadness that Harry wasn't sure he understood the origin of. Arthur Weasley turned in his seat to wink at Lupin, who smiled for real this time and then headed off after Tonks.

Harry went in search of Ginny. He found her standing at the punch bowl. Her long red hair was slightly disheveled and her cheeks were flushed, but she looked beautiful in her green dress robes.

"Almost had it," she muttered as she got herself a drink.

"You're not in that big of a hurry to get married, are you?" Harry asked.

Ginny turned at the sound of his voice and smiled softly at him. She shook her head gently. "Not really . . . but I don't know when I'll see a wedding again."

Harry said nothing, but he knew what she meant. The war was still raging, now worse than ever, and it was about to get even worse. Who knew if any of them would ever see anything like this again.

"Ron's been acting strange," said Ginny absentmindedly, jarring Harry from his thoughts. "You're leaving tonight, aren't you?" It wasn't a question. She already knew the answer. She just wanted to hear him say it. "Once everyone's asleep."

Harry sighed. There was no point in lying to her. He nodded.

"And," she continued. "You're taking Hermione and Ron with you."

Harry nodded again. "I didn't want them to come," he added quickly once he saw the look on her face. "But they-"

"You're taking them but not me?"

"Ginny, please. They've been with me in this since the beginning. I can't-"

"If you're taking my brother, then I'm coming too," she told him defiantly.

"He'll use you-"

"And he won't use them?" Her voice was shaking with emotion. He wasn't sure if she was angry with him or hurt that he was taking Ron and not her or if it was a combination of the two.

"You mean more to me," he told her.

"That's not fair, Harry."

He didn't know how to explain it to her. "Ginny, please-"

She stepped close to him, so close that he could have kissed her if he wanted to . . . and he almost did. "I'm coming with you," she whispered in a tone that made her next words unnecessary. "Try and stop me." She stormed off.

Harry stood frozen to the spot as though she had placed the full body bind spell on him. But that wasn't the case. There was simply no point in chasing after her if he didn't know what to say. It took him a full minute but the right words finally came to him and he rushed off in the direction that she had gone.

The women's and men's lavatories were to his right. To his left was a spare room that Fluer had used to hide from Bill before the ceremony. Praying that Ginny hadn't retreated into the loo, he tried the spare room. Ginny wasn't there.

But Tonks and Lupin were. The lights were dim and he couldn't see their faces well. They were talking in hushed voices and making wild hand gestures (Tonks was waving her bouquet of flowers around). At first, Harry thought they were arguing, but then Lupin laced his fingers with Tonks's free ones. They both laughed in the way that Harry and Ginny used to laugh, in the way that Bill and Fluer had been laughing all evening.

Lupin kissed her. Tonks sighed deeply and let the bouquet drop to the floor, forgotten. She unlaced her fingers from Lupin's to wrap her arms around him, pulling him closer. He moved from her lips to kiss the nape of her neck. Tonks laughed again.

Harry slowly backed out of the room so as not to disturb them. He was grinning stupidly.

* * *

"You've been awfully quiet, Ron." Hermione told him.

"Oh," said Ron, snapping out his daze. "Have I? Sorry. I suppose my mind's on tonight."

Hermione made a sound of acknowledgment but said nothing.

"Actually, no." Ron corrected. "That's not it. Not really. You see, I told Harry that there was something I've been wanting to do, and Harry said that I should do it before we go. I told him that I would but . . ."

"You haven't done it, yet." Hermione finished for him.

He nodded, not looking at her.

"Well, the day's almost over. You don't have much time."

"I know." Ron admitted, still not looking at her. "But it's not so easy as all that."

"Well . . ." said Hermione thoughtfully. "Why don't you tell me what it is and maybe I can help you?"

Ron hesitated. "I-" He stopped and then opened his mouth to try again, but he couldn't get another sound to come out.

Hermione didn't understand why he wouldn't look at her. She brought her hand to his cheek and turned his face so that he would look her in the eye. "Ron, what is it?"

He didn't hear her. He was too focused on the way her hand felt against his skin: soft, warm, and gentle. It made him uncomfortable because it only made him think more of what he had to do and how much he wanted to do it and how he simply couldn't and how he hated himself for not being able to. Hermione seemed to sense his discomfort, and she pulled her hand away as though she had just touched fire.

"No," said Ron, feeling guilty at once. He took her hand in his own. "I didn't mean-" He stopped himself again, alarmingly aware of the weight of her hand and how it felt the same in his palm as it had on his cheek. "Sorry." He dropped her hand as though he'd been bitten and hurried off in the direction of the punch bowl.

Hermione simply sat there, shocked. She didn't understand what had just happened. After a few minutes of mulling it over in her head, she went after Ron.

"I want you to know," he said slowly as she approached. "That Lavender came on to me. I was just standing there and she . . . jumped me."

"Ron, you don't have to explain," she said sincerely. Really, that was over now. Why did he feel the need to tell her this?

"No," he objected. "I do. It was just easy with Lavender. She started everything . . . and she was the one who ended it too . . . because I . . . I was too big a coward. And that's exactly what I'll be when I tell Harry that I didn't do what I said I was going to. I couldn't bring myself to break up with Lavender and I can't bring myself to do this either."

Hermione was silent for a long time. At long last she took a nervous breath, finally realizing what Ron was trying to say to her.

Ron found the courage to look at her. She was trembling, but her voice was surprisingly steady when she spoke.

"Does this help?" Tiptoeing slightly, she brought her face to his, their lips nearly touching.

Ron realized that this was all she could do for him. He'd have to make the next move. He could feel her breath, hot against his skin, and he realized that he was trembling as well. He knew that she was waiting for him and that each passing second was just another to add to the amount of humiliation she would suffer if he didn't do the right thing.

He didn't know how long they stood like that. It felt like hours. He didn't know if he could do this. It was a big step and he wondered if their friendship would survive it. Only when a tear rolled down Hermione's cheek, did he realize exactly what he wanted to do and just how badly he wanted to do it.

Kissing Hermione was different from kissing Lavender. Their snogging sessions had been all heat and raging hormones, but touching his lips to Hermione's was something else entirely. The taste was sweet, and he felt not heat but warmth that seemed to spread through him and leave him with the most wonderful indescribable feeling.

He and Lavender had been more than content to crush their mouths together and stick their tongues down each other's throats, but he never wanted to do that with Hermione. The reason kissing Lavender had been so . . . _physical_ was because something had been missing, they both had felt it. Even now as he kissed Hermione, he still didn't know what that something had been. The only thing he knew was that he'd finally found it. And he'd found it simply by touching his lips to hers. It was more than enough for him, and as he kissed her, gentle and slow, he hoped that it was enough for her as well.

When they did finally part, they were both still trembling, though feeling happy and slightly light headed. Neither of them could find anything to say.

Ron simply smiled and put his hand in hers.

* * *

"I'm coming with you."

"Go back to bed, Ginny. This is none of your business."

"None of my business? My brother is going off to defeat Voldemort, and it's none of my business?"

"We're not going after Voldemort. At least, not yet."

"Well, then where are you going?"

"I told you, it's none of your business."

"It is too, Ron."

"No, it's not, Ginny."

"Yes, it is."

"Ginny!"

"Ron!"

"Knock it off! Both of you!" Harry hissed as quietly as he could. They were still in the house and therefore in risk of waking everyone up.

No one said another word until they were out in the night air.

"Harry, talk to her." Ron pleaded. "She can't come."

Harry pulled her to the side, away from Ron and Hermione.

"I'm coming," she said defiantly. "I'm not going to stay here and worry about you lot while you're out there doing whatever it is you're doing and I'm stuck here or in school."

"Ginny, listen to me," he told her. "Ron, Hermione and I, we're stronger when we're together. I never could've gotten the Sorcerer's Stone or found the Chamber of Secrets or even survived the Triwizard Tournament without them, and I can't do this without them either. I need them.

"But I don't need you," he continued. "You can stay here where it's safe and I don't have to worry about Voldemort using my girlfriend to get to me."

"We broke up," she reminded him.

"Nothing's changed," he assured her. "Please, Ginny, just stay here. Will you do that? For me?"

For him? Dear, god, of course she would. She'd do anything he wanted if he asked her like that. Even if it was something she didn't want to do, like now. She fought with her answer, struggled with it. But there was no way she could tell him 'no.'

"I know you don't want to stay here and worry about me, but . . . do it so that I don't have to worry about you," he pleaded.

Ginny nodded in surrender.

"You'll stay?" he asked her.

She nodded again. "I will. Yes."

"Thank you," he breathed, as though she had no idea the amount of weight she had just taken off his shoulders.

He embraced her tightly and then he kissed her briefly before walking back to Ron and Hermione. However, Ron decided that he couldn't leave without saying goodbye and he went back to get a hug off of his sister. Hermione went back for one as well.

"Take care of them." Ginny told her. "And yourself."

"Oh, I will," said Hermione reassuringly, placing her hand in Ginny's. "Don't you worry about that."

Ginny fell silent.

"If we need anything, you'll know." Hermione said.

Ginny nodded.

Then Hermione left to join the boys. When Ginny blinked, they had disapparated and she had no clue as to where they had gone. But it didn't matter. She'd know if and when they were in trouble . . . because Hermione had placed something in her hand.

It was one of the coins the DA had used to communicate.

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_**I'm flattered that people like this so much that they want me to continue it, but I really don't want to take it any further. I mentioned above that I didn't want to do a many chaptered fic based on this, and that's what I'd end up doing if I continued. Besides, I don't have a clue where to go from here. I have theories about book 7, of course, but nothing to write anything about (except what I've already writen above). **_

_**Thanks for the reviews, though. I really appreciate it.**_


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